1. To Be a Person: Jane Hirshfield’s Playful and Poignant Poem About Bearing Our Human Condition. “Some take, in witnessed suffering, pleasure. Some make, of witnessed suffering, beauty.”

2. Novelist Jesmyn Ward: ‘Losing my partner almost made me stop writing’. “When the father of her children died suddenly, the US National Book award-winning author’s world fell apart. Three years on, she talks about grief, starting over and how she wrote her searing new novel about slavery.” In related news, on The New York Times, In Jesmyn Ward’s New Novel, Slavery Is Hell and Dante Is Our Guide. “‘Let Us Descend,’ by the two-time National Book Award-winning novelist, takes its title from the ‘Inferno’ and its subject from American history.”

3. Inside Jon Batiste and Suleika Jaouad’s Soul-Filled Brooklyn Home. “With the help of designer Hallie Goodman and architect Ravi Raj, the musician and author created an art-filled space that inspires their own creative work.”

4. Bridging the divide: 12 groups working for Israel-Palestine peace. In related news, Ways to help groups who promote peace, provide relief to victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Where To Give Money and Take Action To Support Palestinians Right Now.

5. How man’s best friend is helping rehabilitate inmates in England. “Prisoners in England are being taught to train assistance dogs for the community, gaining qualifications so they can set up their own businesses upon release.”

6. Andrea Gibson: Facing Mortality and Being Adored and Cherished by the Universe. “Listen now to this poignant conversation featuring Andrea’s reading of their poem, ‘Acceptance Speech After Setting the World Record in Goosebumps’ and exploring spiritual surrender, finding joy in every instant, facing challenges, moving through grief, the life force of the universe within us, self-love and loving the whole world, trying softer (not harder), the power of relaxation, identifying the keys that open your heart, staying with our fear, activism and loosening our attachment to desired outcomes, being yourself fully, the gift of mortality, giving the present moment the cold shoulder, why authenticity is the most important thing when it comes to writing, the pull of creativity, and more.”

7. paradoxical truths: the aim of a spiritual practice from Abigail Rose Clarke, who says, “Life is nothing but layered paradoxes. And a spiritual practice – any spiritual practice – should be aiming towards being able to hold greater and greater paradoxes without feeling pushed apart at the seams. All the other benefits – the better sleep, and the greater patience, and in the case of body-based practices, all the glow and youth and ease that’s promised, are lovely side effects. But that isn’t the goal. The aim of any practice is to hold the immense truth of the world, which is to say, to hold its immense paradox.”

8. The Red Hand Files #257. Nick Cave responds to Noreen’s question: “Grief I find people have a hard time talking about my pain, lost my husband of 45 years. I want to talk about him, it makes people nervous. What can I do?”

9. Ch-ch-ch-changes… from Esmé Weijun Wang. “The year when everything changed.”

10. Those Little Brown Hands from Frederick Joseph. “A letter to late six-year-old Palestinian-American, Wadea al-Fayoume.”

11. I just know I ache for my friends (and all humans) to know peace, not fear from Patti Digh. “I am not a scholar of Israel, Palestine (and Hamas) but I am a friend to humans there.”

12. Wisdom from Pema Chödrön: “There is a teaching that says that behind all hardening and tightening and rigidity of the heart, there’s always fear. But if you touch fear, behind fear there is a soft spot. And if you touch that soft spot, you find the vast blue sky. You find that which is ineffable, ungraspable, and unbiased, that which can support and awaken us at any time.”

13. How to Cure the ‘Introvert Blues’.

14. The end of writer’s block from Seth Godin.

15. Good stuff on A Writer’s Notebook from Summer Brennan: Essay Camp? and Essay Camp: A November Write-Along and The Work, In Progress. And this she has to say about writing practice applies to any practice, “The ongoing process of writing is one of perpetual drift and return. We are pulled away from our writing practice and then we come back, over and over. Life, the noise of the world, and the constant clamor of our own personal responsibilities can make writing difficult. This habit of return is one of the most important skills that any writer can cultivate, whether we do it daily or only once every few years.” The point isn’t to do it perfectly, but when you notice you’ve drifted off or gotten hooked, you simply notice and come back, and you can do that as many times as you need to — “the habit of return,” the noticing is what matters.

16. The Goal Versus The Mission from Jami Attenberg. “I definitely strive for perfection in my work. I want to make something beautiful and seamless and special for everyone. Always, I want this. (I know you want this, too!) But striving for that perfection should never get in the way of making it to the finish line or even sitting down to do that work in the first place. Perfection is a goal but not the mission. Have a good week. I hope you fuck up a little bit.”

17. The Worst Doctor Diet Advice? from Ragen Chastain. 

18. Messages from This Week of Being Human from Sarah Blondin.

19. 9 (Not so Little Things) That Are Holding You Back from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less. Also from Courtney, 7 Life Mistakes That Make Us Feel Unhappy and Somatic Therapy: 12 Easy Ways To Shift Your Mood With Your Body.

20. For All Beings by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel.

21. Mark Steel: ‘I have cancer and it feels like there’s a leopard in my house’. “The comedian was booked in for a biopsy after noticing a neck abnormality. Standups are used to leaving audiences jolly but he could not share his diagnosis without causing worry.”

22. Louise Glück honed her poetic voice across a lifetime to speak to us from beyond the grave. Check out her page on Poetry Foundation.

23. The art of quitting. “Walking away is hard, but it can be empowering.”

24. Hidden Brain Podcast: Escaping Perfectionism. “Perfectionism is everyone’s favorite flaw. It’s easy to assume that our push to be perfect is what leads to academic, athletic and professional success. But psychologist Thomas Curran says perfectionism has a dark side, and that there are much healthier ways to strive for excellence.”

25. In a reading rut? Here’s how to find a book you won’t want to put down. An interview with Traci Thomas, creator and host of the podcast The Stacks, where she talks to guests about new titles and offers quirky book lists.

26. Tattered Cover bookstore chain files for bankruptcy, plans to close 3 stores. *sigh*

27. Here Are The 15 Winning Images Of The Wildlife Photographer Of The Year Competition.

28. Is a Women’s Museum Still Relevant? on The New York Times. “The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington reopens Oct. 21 after a renovation and the loss of its legendary leader. It faces a world that has changed its outlook significantly.”

29. Georgia deputy fatally shoots man who was wrongfully imprisoned for 16 years. This is who we are — we right a wrong done and make the effort to free an innocent man from prison, we financially compensate him for the time he lost, which allows him to plan on attending college and buying a home, only to murder him during a traffic stop two years later.

30. A Woman Got Callbacks From Every Job She Applied to After She Used AI to Write Her Resume.

31. Fran Lebowitz on Astrology, Taylor Swift, and Lesbian Period Pieces. “The legendary New Yorker is softer on Los Angeles these days, but harsh as ever when it comes to pretty much everything else.”

32. 50 Of The Most Interesting Things People Ever Found On The Beach.

33. 10 Questions I Would Ask My Dog.

34. Baby Showers Beware: “Nesting Party” Takes Internet By Storm As Much Better Alternative.

35. ‘You’ll grow out of it’: the best and worst advice for depression.

36. Yayoi Kusama Apologizes for Past Racist Remarks on The New York Times. “Revelations from the artist’s autobiography threaten to cloud her new show at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.”

37. The 300-year-old Japanese method of upcycling. “Sashiko is easy, practical and beautiful – and gaining fans around the world. Bel Jacobs speaks to practitioners to find out more.”

38. Recipes I want to try: Mexican Street Tacos, Sesame Chicken Bowls, and Gingerbread Loaf.

39. 5 things to remember when a friendship ends.

40. Retired country maths teacher Robert Martiensen created thousands of artworks in secret. This is so sweet, but also so sad.

41. Binge Eating Was My First High. “What lengths would I go to feed my hungry heart?”

42. Window Plant Shelf on Etsy. I think I need some of these.

43. The recipe for a better ‘Bake-Off’? Fun format, good casting, and less host shtick.

44. A Hospice Nurse on Embracing the Grace of Dying on The New York Times. “A decade ago, Hadley Vlahos was lost. She was a young single mother, searching for meaning and struggling to make ends meet while she navigated nursing school. After earning her degree, working in immediate care, she made the switch to hospice nursing and changed the path of her life. Vlahos, who is 31, found herself drawn to the uncanny, intense and often unexplainable emotional, physical and intellectual gray zones that come along with caring for those at the end of their lives, areas of uncertainty that she calls ‘the in-between.'”

45. The Garden at Saihoji Temple in Kyoto, a short peaceful video from Lucian James.